I was quite suprised to see that most internet mas feel experience is the only thing you need in a fight?

Question

Do you believe that without conditions, not training, all that experience would still pull you through a fight. If you were fighting someone with one year of training and in excellent shape vs. a ma with 30 years experience and no physique would you really think the experienced ma would win or the guy with excellent shape. What do you think?

Quite possibly it could be my lack of experience that makes me ask this. Thank you Bushido. The reason I say this is because I've seen some talented people take up a fight after months of slacking off and training only once or twice a week and lose a fight they ordinarily would of won. Is experrience gonna win you a fight if you are fat and have no cardio. Or would great conditioning and basic technique be more in your favor?

Thhis was the question I was referring to:

martin hMember since: June 27, 2006

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--%Best answer

In a fight, which would you rather have?
more strength
more speed
greater endurance
more experience
greater training and/or skill
toughness (can take more hits without injury)
natural coordination/dexterity
an extra week to prepare for the fight

you can only pick one

Answer 1

it all depends on the degrees. of course we can all say take a guy who is out of shape and in his 60's vs. a prime but young fighter. Thats like bragging that you could kick the crap out of muhammad ali right now- the man has a debilitative disease.

Of course youth and conditioning matters. however now change that to a more realistic scenario where you have some miraculous old-timer in near jack la laine type of shape vs a kid who is in good shape but is a crappy fighter with no experience.

or even a middle aged fighter in ok shape who has experince vs a kid in great shape but no experience.

It all comes down to many many factors.

And also what kind of training are we talking about? 30 years of kata and playing dress up in pajamas while meditating over a rock? or 30 years of realistic training and training against opponents?

Answer 2

Well, I'll put it this way.

I'm a 46 year old man with arthritis yet I consistently beat folks in their 20s and 30s in sparring matches. It's not because I am faster than they are, not because I have a longer reach. It's because I've been hit, know that I can get through it, and have honed my technique to allow me to get past their defense.

I've also worked on my defense so that I can block most of what they throw. Add these things together and you have an old man in worse shape beating younger men in better shape.

Acquired skill, after all, can get better. Natural skill with no training just stops at one point and that let's an old man win.

Answer 3

i never seen anyone say it was the only thing.i think it's your lack of experience that propels you to ask these sort of questions.
training will never give you real experience whether it's realistic or not.here i'll spell it out.experience-a 50 year old man is not going to get in a ring with a 25 year old bloke.
experience-a 25 year old real martial artist is not going to attack a 50 year old bloke.
experience-if he does the 50 year old bloke(if he's a ma)is going to kick his ***,he's not going to try and fight 5 rounds with him?duh!because the 50 year old bloke was once that 25 year old bloke.now hes had 25 years more experience.
do i need to draw pictures?and if you cant see that by now you'll never see it and you'll never be a martial artist.
you might be right when your talking ring fighting,but the street and the ring are completely different.iv'e personally seen more than one australasian and world champion get the **** punched out of them by a drunk in the pub.
-experience-never assume.

Answer 4

when you say out of shape i think you are referring to the heavy set guys that hang out at dojos, because honestly achieving 30 years experience without getting into shape is not possible. When you are 50, and have a black belt, you have mastered a deadly art. your not 25 at the beach all the time, and the idea of lifting weights and tightening your muscles sounds less appealing. These men are not out of shape, they just arent calorie counting anymore. when you reach a certain point in martial arts, you become confiendt in your ability to defend yourself and just want mmore experience. They no longer are 25 and rolling up their sleeves to compare biceps. lifting weights looks great, but all your doing is tightening your muscles. you have to balance that with someting like yoga that will lengthen your muscles. most punches lengthen the muscle, expect uppercut and hook, so you need a balance. big muscles are not the key to victory. if you go look at 10th dan black belts, or ufc champions, you will find most in the middle of the spectrum as far as martial arts are concerned. i'm always scared of the guy with less muscle, thinking "what does he know taht makes him want to step into the ring with that guy". personal opinion and experience

Answer 5

IMO: A good number of posters to this board do not have any personal experience in the martial arts. They watch UFC and fantasize!

I would also be surprised if very many martial artists would call sparring or a competition "a fight."

In my personal experience, most martial artist don't get into fights, they walk away from conflicts!

Answer 6

I can only speak from experience. I have fought many men in their 40's ( I just turned 25) and have beat them all. Age plays A HUGE role in fights. Now if say it were Randy Couture! are you kidding me? that mans an exception.... he is 40 something and could wipe the floor with most.

Answer 7

shape doesnt win a street fight!
neither do these:
kung fu
Taekwondo
BJJ
and most all traditional styles

Its good to practice dont get me wrong but any one in any shape against the new breed MMA fighters dont have a chance in hell.It was proven in the octagon. its not enough to do stand up or just ground or even both anymore. a street fight doesnt last more than a few seconds maybe a couple of minutes... thats it.

Answer 8

I doubt you would ever find a guy with 30 years experience who has no physique.

Oh, and I don't consider myself an internet ma.

Answer 9

The question you were referring to only wanted one answer from the list.
I felt that experience was the most valuable asset on that list.

Conditioning and training are key but if you only allowed me to have one attribute I would still choose experience.

Answer 10

The smell of good food, my heart goes out to the people that do not have the sense of smell anymore.